Manure-spreader.



T. BROWN.

I MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, 1908.

944,479.. Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

l l z znessej v F 6 f f I A. 0. roam/h, Z9 27mm on yW I vv v UNITEDsrarns r a'rnnr UFETQE.

T I-IEOPHILUS BROWN,- OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0RICHARDSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A.CORPQRATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

MANURE SPBLEAEER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 2 8, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEOPHILUS BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Worcester, in the county of Vorcester and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful'fmprovement inManure-Spreaders, of which the following is a specification, accompaniedby drawings forming a part of the same, in which- I Figure 1 is a sideview of the body of a manure spreader showing the beater, rake andtailboard, and such actuating parts as are employed in throwing thetailboard and rake into and out of operative position. Fig. 2 is a topview of the same, and Fig. 3 is a side view of the rear portion of thebody showing the rake and tailboard in changed positions from thoserepresented in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows the rake in operative position andthe tailboard in inoperative position, and Fig. 3 shows the tailboard inoperative position and the rake in inoperative position. Figs. 4, 5 and6 represent side views of the body of a manure spreader showing modifiedforms of construction, whereby the tailboard and rake are operativelyconnected in order that they may be raised or lowered by the action of asingle lever handle.

Similar reference letters and figures refer to similar parts in thedifferent views.

My present invention relates to the pulverizing rake of a manurespreader, and it has for its objects to provide a movable rake capableof being maintained in its most effective position above the beaterduring the operation of the spreader, and to be moved out of itsoperative position to facilitate the loading of the spreader, andfurther to produce a simultaneous movement of the rake and tailboard bymeans of a single hand lever, whereby, by one movement of the lever, thetailboard may be raised and the rake brought into operative positionand, by a reverse movement of the hand lever, the tailboard and rake maybe simultaneously lowered, thereby swinging the tailboard into operativeposition to prevent the load from crowding against the beater, anddepressing the rake to'allow manure to be thrown over it from the rearof the spreader in the process of loading. The above objects Iaccomplish by means of the constructionand arrangement of parts ashereinafter described and pointed out in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown only such parts of a manurespreader as are necessary to illustrate the character and operation ofmy present invention, viz., the body, beater, pulverizing rake, movabletailboard, and the mechanism for changing the position of the rake andtailboard.

Referring to the accompanying drawings 1 denotes the body of a'manurespreader, having a seat 2 mounted on the front end thereof for thedriver and having at its rear end a rotatable beater 3 provided withteeth 4, whereby the load of manure as it crowds against the beater,which revolves in the direction of the arrow 5, is picked up by theteeth 4 and thrown broadcast at the rear of the spreader in the mannercommon in machines of this class, which will be well understood by thoseconversant with manure spreaders without further detailed description.

In order to pulverize the manure and enable the machine to distribute itmore evenly over the surface of the ground, I mount a pulverizing rake 6substantially vertical above the axis of the beater. The pulverizingrake consists of a bar 7 extending transversely across the body of thespreader, from the lower edge of which project a se ries of teeth 8.Preferably the teeth 8 should be capable of a slight yielding motion inthe direction of the arrow 9, Fig. 1, and this may be secured by anyconvenient means, in the present instance, by mounting the bar 7 uponyielding or elastic arms 10 attached by bolts to levers 11, pivoted uponstuds 12 held by the opposite sides of the body and having coincidentaxes, so that the rake 6 and levers 11 are capable of swinging freelyabout the studs 12.

A tailboard 13 extends transversely across the body directly in front ofthe heater 3, and is capable of being raised in an elevated position, asshown in Fig. 1, in order to allow the load of manure to be brought intocontact with the rotating beater, or to be lowered into the positionshown by the broken lines 13 Fig. 3, by which the load is kept fromcrowding against the beater. The tailboard 13 is attached at its uppercorners to bent arms 14-, which are pivoted in lugs 15 attached to therear ends of levers 16, 16. The levers 16 are pivoted at their forwardends upon studs 17 to the body of the spreader, and attached to thelevers 16 are lifting plates 18 which are acted upon by swinging camlevers l9, pivoted upon the side of the body at 20 and connected by rods21 with radial arms 22, carried upon a rocking shaft 23 extendingtransversely across the forward end of the body, and adapted to berocked from the drivers seat by means the position shown in Fig. 3 bythe reverse movement of the hand lever.

The construction and operation of the tailboard 13, as above described,form no part of my present invention, as they are substantially likethat shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 632,124,issued August 29, 1899, to Joseph F. Kemp, and the method of raising thelevers 16 by means of a single lever handle and rocking rod has alsobeen in common use prior to my present invention.

The rear ends of the levers 16 are pivotally connected with the levers11 by means of links 25, so that the upward movement of the levers 16 inraising the tailboard 13 will also elevate the levers 11 and swing thepulverizing rake into the position shown in Fig. 1, substantiallyvertical above the axis of the beater which is its most etlicientposition, for the reason that in this position the manure raised by theteeth 4L will be thrown with considerable force against the teeth 8, andany material which is impeded in this movement by the teeth of the rakewill fall directly downward upon the rotating beater, instead ofaccumulating in front of the beater as would be the case if the rake wasinclined toward the forward end of the body, while, if the rake wasinclined in the opposite direction, the manure would have a tendency tolodge upon the rake.

Whenever the tailboard 13 is lowered from the position shown in Fig. 1to that shown by the broken lines 13 in Fig. 3, the

links 25 will cause the levers 11 to be swung into the position shown inFig. 3, thereby rocking the rake upon the studs 12 and carrying it intoa substantially horizontal position just above the sides of the body 1.In the lowered position of the rake 6, as shown in Fig. 3, the body maybe conveniently loaded at the rear end, by throwing the manure over thebeater and rake into the body 1. t

The actuating mechanism for raising th tailboard and rake, as shown inFigs. 1,2 and 3, is arranged to act directly upon the pivoted leversupporting the tailboard, and the simultaneous movement of the rake issecured by connecting the rake and tailboard through the lever 11 andlink 25.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have showna modififrom the seat 2.

- position.

cation of the actuating 'inechanism, which consists 'injournaling'beneath thebody a rocking shaft 28 having a raidial arm 29 lever 16,upon the free ends of which the 'tailboard 13 is suspended. The rockingshaft 28 is provided with a segmental wheel 31, on the periphery ofwhich is 'wound a chain 32, connected with the arm 33 of a hand lever 34in convenient position to be operated notches 36 in the are 37. Theradial arm 29 is likewise connected by a link'38 with The hand lever34iis provided with a latch 35, arranged to engage the frame of the rake6. In Fig. 4; the rake and tailboard are both shown in a raisedtailboard, the lever handle 34 is depressed into the position shown in Fig. '5, thereby releasing the chain 32 and allowing the lever 16 andconnected tailboard to fall by gravity into the position shown in Fig.5, at the same time swinging the rake 6 toward the forward end of thespreader into a substantially horispreader may be conveniently loaded. 7

In Fig. 6 I have shown still another modification, which consists injournaling two rocking shafts 39 and 40 at the front end ofthe spreader,said shafts having radial arms 41 and 42 which are operatively connectedtogether by means of a link 43. The arm 4:1

specific arrangement of parts whereby the In order to depress therakeand so zontal position, over which the body of the tailboard and rakeare operatively connected so as to be simultaneously actuated by themovement of a single lever handle, as this may be accomplished indifferent ways which will readily occur to a mechanic conversant withmanure spreaders. V c

I am aware that it has been proposed to provide a shield for the beaterand teeth of V a pulverizing rake, all carried by a single framework andcapable of being brought into and out of their operative position by aswinging movement around acommon center. By this construction, however,when the rake is brought into its operative position, the tailboard isswung over the teeth of the heater and in position to impede the passageof manure against the teeth of the rake.

By my present invention, I swing the framework of the rake and the leverwhich.

support the tailboard upon independent cenv ters, so that the rake andtailboard as they are raised or lowered will describe independent arcsof circles, each having a separate center. For example, the levers 16carrying the tailboard rotate about a stud 17 and the framework of therake rotates about the studs 12 so that, as the tailboard descends, therake will swing toward the tailboard and 'be brought into a positionover it, as shown in Big. 3, and when the tailboard and rake are raisedin their operative position a free path is provided for the manure, asit is lifted by the teeth of the beater and carried with violent impactagainst the teeth of the rake. Notwithstanding that the rake andtailboard are swung upon independent centers, I secure simultaneousmovement of both the rake and tailboard through the operation of asingle lever handle, by coupling the operative mechanism together at aconvenient and suitable point; some of the most obvious methods of socoupling the tailboard and rake together having been shown in thedifferent n'gures of the accompanying drawings.

I claim,

1. A manure spreader, having a beater, a rake and a tailboard, said rakeand said tailboard pivotally supported on independent centers andarranged to be swung upon said centers into and out of operativeposition with reference to said beater, and means for positivelyswinging said rake and said tailboard simultaneously into and out ofoperative position.

2. A manure spreader, having a rake and a tailboard, each capable ofmovement about independent centers, and a lever handle positivelyconnected with said rake and said tailboard, whereby said rake and saidtailboard are simultaneously moved both into and out of operativeposition by the movement of said lever handle.

3. A manure spreader, having a beater, a rake and a tailboard, said rakeand said tailboard pivotally supported on independent centers, a leverhandle, and positive means for imparting the movement of said leverhandle in one direction to raise simultaneously both said rake and saidtailboard.

4. A manure spreader, having a rake and a tailboard pivotally supportedupon independent centers, positive means i'or raising and lowering oneof said members, and connecting means between said rake and saidtailboard, whereby the positive movement of one is imparted positivelyto the other.

5. A manure spreader, having a rake and a tailboard pivotally supportedupon independent centers, positive means t'or raising and lowering saidrake, and a link connecting said rake and said tailboard, wherebypositive movement of said rake is imparted positively to said tailboard.

6. A manure spreader, having a rake and a tailboard pivotally supportedupon independent centers, and means for simultaneously lowering bothsaid rake and said tailboard.

7. A manure spreader, having a beater and a rake comprising a bar havingrake teeth, said bar held by arms pivotally supported on an axisapproximately in the vertical plane of the axis of the beater, and meansfor raising said arms to bring said rake teeth into an approximatelyvertical plane and into operative relation with the beater and forlowering said arms to bring said rake teeth into a horizontal andinoperative position with relation to the beater.

8. A manure spreader, having a beater, a rake and a tailboard, saidtailboard arranged to have a vertical movement and supported on swingingarms pivoted in front of said beater, said rake pivotally supportedindependently of said tailboard above said beater, means for raising andlowering said swinging arms, and a link connecting said swinging armswith said rake, whereby said rake is raised and lowered simultaneouslywith said tailboard.

Dated this 27th day of April 1908.

THEOPHILUS BROWN.

Witnesses PENELOPE COMBERBACH, HENRY \Voon FOWLER.

